Tanner Foust Takes Victory at Lydden Hill - VIDEO COVERAGE

LONDON, England (April 2, 2013) -- Rockstar Energy Drink driver Tanner Foust earned the first win of an ambitious international rallycross campaign that will see him contest two major series on three continents this year.

The popular American driver arrived at the Lydden Hill circuit in southeast England this weekend ready for a repeat of his dominant 2012 performance there. In addition to a refreshed look for the car and new sponsors including ENEOS Motor Oil and ODYSSEY Battery, the Olsbergs MSE team has again stepped up the competition package. 

"I couldn't wait to get back in the Rockstar Energy Drink Ford Fiesta ST," said Foust. "We did some testing with the team prior to the event but there's nothing like racing these ridiculously fast cars door-to-door."

The Lydden Hill circuit is the birthplace of rallycross, where the sport debuted its very first races more than 40 years ago. The track is challenging, calling for smooth and tidy driving on the technical road course portions, and full-attack sideways slides through gravel.

"It's a blast. It requires a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde mentality each lap," said Foust. "Half of the track is buttery smooth tarmac and the other half is rough gravel."

Early qualifying saw Foust suffer a flat tire in the first of four heats, but he recovered quickly and advanced to the final round, where he led from wire to wire.

Since his first rallycross contests just three years ago, Foust has emerged as the driver to beat in the sport. He has finished the past two seasons in the top ranks of the FIA European Rallycross Championship, earned back-to-back Global Rallycross Championship titles and has scored three X Games gold medals in rally competition. He now leads the points in the nine-round European championship.

"Winning the first race after the off-season is a great confidence boost, especially against the highly competitive European field," said Foust. "It means that all our homework and fine-tuning over the winter have paid off. Now we just have to keep up the momentum."

The win puts Foust in a strong position heading into the first Global Rallycross Championship round, held for the first time at X Games Brazil on April 21. 

 Rallycross is a blend of circuit racing, off-road racing and rally competition. It promises intense crowd-pleasing action in a fan-friendly track environment. As many as six drivers line up to start at once, piloting high-horsepower compact cars through race traffic over a challenging short course that features jumps, unbanked turns, hills and transitions between pavement and gravel.

 Foust is expected to run a select season of events in the 2013 European Rallycross Championship, as well as the full X Games and Global Rallycross schedule.

Antoine L'Estage Brings WRC Mitsubishi To Rally America - TESTING VIDEO FROM CZECH REPUBLIC

 

 

Montréal (Québec), April 2, 2013.-

Antoine L’Estage and Nathalie Richard step up their game for the remaining rounds of the 2013 Rally America Championship. After a successful test in the WRC Mitsubishi in the Czech Republic, L’Estage has made the commitment to bring the WRC prepared Mitsubishi stateside.

Although slightly outdated compared with today’s WRC cars, this 2005 spec Evo will still be a formidable competitor on the North American stages.  L’Estage still lacks the funds of a fully supported manufacture team, but as long as the current budget  lasts this car should put L’Estage on par with Block and Higgins.  Let’s hope that Antoine can get some solid testing in prior to the Oregon Trails Rally as it will take some mastering to extract the full potential of this car.

Below is the Press release from the team:

Reigning North American and Canadian Rally Champions, driver Antoine L’Estage (of St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec) and his co-driver Nathalie Richard (of Halifax, Nova Scotia) will contest the remaining events of the Rally America series at the wheel of a WRC Mitsubishi Lancer.  In this, the premier American rally championship, it will be the first time a Canadian competes in a modern day World Rally Car that has already contested the World Rally Championship and it is also the first time the British MML Sports team will bring their WRC car to compete in North America. 



L'Estage will add his new 2013 livery on the WRC Mitsubishi, Rockstar Energy will be the dominant sponsor.

  

After having contested the first two rounds of the 2013 season, including a victory at Michigan’s SnoDrift Rally in their Mitsubishi Evo X, Antoine L'Estage and Nathalie Richard will finish off the remaining five Rally America rounds with the WRC Lancer.  "This is big news!  To take part in rallies at the wheel of a car that has been in the World Rally Championship is fantastic and I’m really looking forward to more great battles with Ken Block and David Higgins" explains Antoine, who clarifies : "our hard work has come to fruition in the form of an agreement with MML Sports of the UK, with whom we already tested the car last November in the Czech Republic.  All of our sponsors play a big role in this as well and we are thrilled to have our partners on board"

The MML Sports Mitsubishi has been in service in the hands of several very capable drivers since Mitsubishi's departure from the WRC. Picture Neil McDaid / Donegal 2006

 

The first event that the L’Estage/Richard duo will take part in with the WRC Mitsubishi Lancer will be on the first weekend of May for the Oregon Trail Rally, round 3 of the Rally America series.  An important test session will precede the rally, enabling Antoine to familiarize himself with the car. "Up until now, I’ve only done a few kilometers with this car, without really pushing it to its maximum capabilities.  We’re in the hunt for this year’s RA title so it’s essential to get more comfortable with the vehicle before the start of Oregon Trail" confides Antoine, who, with Nathalie, sits in second place on the championship leaderboard.  The team will also continue the fight to make 2013 its sixth Canadian Rally Championship title, which will be contested in the Rockstar Energy Drink Lancer Evo X as originally planned at the beginning of the season. More details concerning L’Estage’s debut in the WRC car will follow

 

WRC: Ken Block Claims His Best Finish Ever On The World Rally Championship

 

 

March 11th, 2013, León, Mexico — After having been out of the Ford Fiesta WRC since their last World Rally Championship appearance at Finland last summer, the Hoonigan Racing Division duo of Ken Block and Alex Gelsomino returned to WRC Mexico this weekend. The event also marked the pair’s 20th-ever race in a WRC car.

Despite not having any WRC testing prior to the race—and their last bit of WRC seat time being 8-months ago—Block and Gelsomino had a solid race strategy: keep it fairly conservative and just focus on having a good time and enjoying the stages since Mexico is currently their only WRC event on the 2013 race calendar. That strategy paid off with the pair achieving their best-ever WRC finish with a highly respectable 7th overall.

“I’m stoked with how this event turned out for me,” said Block. “I was a bit nervous coming into it since I hadn’t been in the WRC car since Finland last year. There were some new, tighter and more technical stages added this year and while my normal driving style suits fast, flowing roads a bit better, I really enjoyed the new stages. Plus, as always, the fans down here in Mexico are absolutely some of the best out there. They’re so passionate and enthusiastic, it really helps make this an amazing event.”

Heading into the rally with no pre-race testing, Block got things started on Thursday morning by kicking things off with a top-10 qualifying position—an impressive feat given his lack of recent WRC seat time. He then moved on into Friday, working his way into 7th overall by the end of the day. Saturday brought further advances as Block moved into 6th overall, which is where he ended the second full day of racing. Sunday brought more consistent top-10 stage times and a third day of highly competitive pace, although eventually former factory driver—and personal friend of Block’s who has previously podiumed second in WRC Mexico—Chris Atkinson edged out 6th overall from Block, pushing him back to 7th overall.

 

 

“I’m massively impressed with Ken’s performance this weekend,” said Team Manager Derek Dauncey. “The pace he kept in regards to the top drivers in this event surprised everyone, even myself. He was very quick on every stage, which is fantastic given that he was taking a more conservative approach. I’m very pleased that he’s walked away with his best-ever finish of 7th overall.”

While Rally Mexico is currently Block’s only WRC appearance scheduled for the 2013 season, Block will still be competing in all four of the upcoming Global X Games, as well as the full Global RallyCross championship and finishing out the 2013 Rally America calendar.

 

Photos: HooniganRacing

David Higgins and his Subaru Rally Team take Victory at Rally in the 100 Acre Woods

David Higgins and Creg Drew take the clean line through the challenging conditions on day-two on their way to their first overall victory at Rally In the 100AW. Photo: Neil McDaid

Salem, Mo; David Higgins and co-driver Craig Drew finally addRally in The 100 AW to their long list of rally victories, Higgins had beenheld at bay in the past two years by both Antoine L’Estage and Ken Block, buton this occasion he was the last man standing.

We had expected round two of the 2013 Rally AmericaChampionship to be an epic battle from the get go, but as we reported on dayone, the battle off the front would quickly unravel with the departure ofAntoine L’Estage with engine troubles and Ken Block’s off stage excursion onss6.

Joseph Burke continues to shine as a contender in the U.S. Rally scene, Burke would also battle through the challenging conditions at this years rally to grab second overall in his Mitsubishi  behind Higgins. Photo: Neil McDaid

 

Day one was apparently not a trouble free day for TeamSubaru either as they would opt to change the engine in Higgins car at the overnightservice. David’s crew would work late into the night to make the swap and havethe STI ready for battle on day-two. The crew from Hoonigan Racing Team wouldalso burn the midnight oil making repairs to Block’s car after his drive aroundthe farmyard, Block also planned to return on day-two under the super rallyrule in hopes of grabbing a few championship  points.

Holding the overall lead heading into day-two, Higgins andDrew would now set off first on the road and would be faced with the unknown stageconditions as the rally moved to southeast of Salem.  With his insane speed factor Block would slotin behind Higgins, although Block and Gelsomino were now down to 9^th overall.

Into the night, Tim O'Neil made a return to competitive stage rally this past weekend, Tim and co-driver Terry Hanson would place third overall in 2wd in their Ford Fiesta R2. Photo Neil McDaid

 

Block would attack hard off the line on the opening stage ofday 2, “Asbridge Hollow” he would better Higgins by 10 seconds over the 4.31mile test. Conditions on the opening stages on day two were little changed fromday one, mostly covered in snow with random icy patches, but the brown gravelof 100aw was starting to show through.

Despite having a comfortable lead and barring no majorissues, Higgins could had drove down the middle of the road to the podium, butHiggins was not going to let Block have it all his own way. David would chargeback taking the stage victory over Block on the second test of the day “LoopSouthern Short” a 8.34 mile technical stage with several creek crossings thrownin for good measure.

The Ford Fiesta Movement continues to grow on the U.S. rally scene, "Fast Eddie" McNally pictured here on SS9 grabbed 2nd overall in 2WD. Photo Neil McDaid

 Joseph Burke who was now laying second overall to Higginswas starting to have some teething issues with his newly rebuilt Mitsubishi andlost some of his margin on the opening stages.

Ken Blocks rein on Rally in the 100aw woods would finallycome to an end on SS10 “Scotia South” we would hear on the rally communicationnet that car #43 was stopped near the end of stage 10, both driver andco-driver were out of the car and the OK sign was displayed. We would learnlater that Ken and Alex retired due to lack of throttle, with the fly by wiresystem, gone are the days of the co-driver handing out from under the hoodwhile working the carbs as cars scrambled back to service.

Well it was not to be win #7 for Block, this Rally that Ken  describes  as his favorite rally in the world would through down an extra twist this year with some nasty snow and ice. After his off on SS6, Block was back on the attack early on day two before retiring again on SS10. Photo Neil McDaid

With Block sidelined and a buffer of over five minutes onBurke after 10 stages, David Higgins would set his sights on driving safely tothe podium, but as a precaution his Subaru Mechanics would swap out the gearboxin Higgins car, at the midpoint service. Although Higgins basically wentunchallenged throughout day two, he would still have to drive clean on the verychallenged conditions, “This is one rally we haven’t won before and to win itnow is a great feeling especially the way things happened,” said Higgins, “Ourvictory appeared not to be close, but giving the difficulty of the rally andthe conditions that margin could have disappeared in an instant.” said a veryrelieved David Higgins as he took to his first overall podium at Rally 100AW.

Yes we will take second!! Joseph Burke [second from right] and Alex Kilhurani [4th from right] celebrate the overall podium finish with the crew from JRD Motorsports. Photo Neil McDaid 

JRD Motorsports who built and run the Mitsubishi for JosephBurke were also able to get to the bottom of Burkes boost issues that slowedhis pace on the earlier stages. Joseph and co driver Alex Kihurani wouldmaintain their pace on the final night stages to hold onto their second place overallpodium position.  Laughlin O’ Sullivanand Scott Putnam would grab third overall.

With Higgins victory at 100aw, David and his Subaru team notmove to the number one  position in the 2013Rally America Championship points race. With Antoine L’Estage’s DNF at 100aw henow slides to second. Although teams have only completed two of the sevenrounds of the championship, Blocks title hopes are already slipping with hisDNF in Missouri he is now in 9^th place.  

Laughlin O’Sullivan would also grab the overall victory in the Super Production class in his newly built Lucas Oil Sponsored Subaru, but it was not without a tight battle on day two. O’Sullivan was felling the heat from David Strerckx and Karen Jankowski through mid-day, unfortunately David’s Subaru would lose boost on the closing stages and he would drop to third in SP class, moving Evan Cline to second in Class.

[ACP] Andrew Comrie-Picard is off to a flying start in the2013 2WD Championship, ACP would follow up to his Sno*Drift victory with yetanother 2wd victory at 100aw. ACP’s nearest rival Dillon Van Way was caught outby the conditions early on the day two, Van Way slid off the stage and into afew large tree stumps. Although Van Way and co driver Andrew Edwards were notinjured their Ford Fiesta was too damaged to continue. ACP’s Scion Racing XDwas flanked on the podium by a pair of Ford Racing /Team O’Neil Fiestas. “FastEddie” McNally would grab second behind ACP, and a spirited drive from Tim O’Neil in the closing stages netted him the third and final spot on the podium.

Know to some as ‘Thetiny Swedish bomb”, the unmistakable noise of Jeff Keller’s 1963 three cylinder,two stroke Saab coming buzzing down the stage flat to the mat was reminder of amuch of a great bygone day. Photo Neil McDaid   

 

The Rally America calendar takes a few months off before crewsstart heading for the Great North West for the Oregon Trail Rally on May 3^rdthrough the 5^th.

 

 

 

Rally America: Battle at The 100AW

Salem, Missouri. After the first four stages of the Rally In The 100AW 2013, Ken Block, who was faced with the daunting task of running first on the road, had somehow managed to open a 19 second lead on Subaru team driver David Higgins after the first leg of the rally. Unfortunately for Ken and his co-driver Alex Gelsomino their impressive drive on the very icy stages would be slowed by an off on SS6. Ken came over a blind crest less than a mile into the stage and hit a patch of glare ice, his Hoonigan Racing Fiesta collided with a large metal gate, proceeded to then take out an 18inch gate before mowing down several small trees before coming to rest in a rest in a farm yard some 6 feet below the road level. Block would have to miss the final stage of day one.  But, his crew has worked throughout the night to repair the car.  All going well Block will return for Day 2 under the super rally rule.

 

 

A very disappointed Antoine L’Estage and co-driver Nathalie Richard, who had been running second on the road, would see the Rockstar energy sponsored Mitsubishi Evo X be sidelined with overheating issues after only 4 stages. Antoine had posted the fastest time on SS2, throwing down his marker on what could have been a great battle over the two days of competition.

 

Not the way David Higgins and Craig Drew would have liked to inherit the lead, but that’s rally and they will take it. Higgins eased into the rally conceding stage victories to Block, L’Estage and Burke before taking the stage victory on SS4. Heading into day two David is now faced with the task of running first on the road. They have over a four minute buffer to Joseph Burke who has now moved to second.

Despite being off the pace of the front runners, Privateer Joseph Burke in his “Snowwhite” Mitsubishi now finds himself in second overall with just over a minute buffer to Laughlin O’Sullivan in third. Burke would be well advised to not go chasing after Higgins over the unknowing conditions on day two but more focus on maintaining, if not adding to his cushion on Laughlin. Burke set the fasted time on SS3 the short but always spectacular Spectator Special in Potosi.

Scion Racing's driver Andrew Comrie-Picard (ACP) and co-driver  Jeremy Wimpey have eased their Scion XD to a razor thin margin over Dillon Van Way in the Fiesta to lead the 2WD battle heading into day two. ACP has only a 14-second lead on Van Way setting up for a tight battle over the final ten stages of the rally.